


Eight Days Late

by missbecky



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Humor, Unrequited Steve feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-13
Updated: 2012-08-13
Packaged: 2017-11-12 02:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve overhears a conversation between Tony and Pepper. This being Tony Stark, things are not quite what they seem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eight Days Late

"Tony. Tony…I can't be having this conversation with you right now!"

"Well, why not?"

Lying on the couch, Steve went absolutely still. Tony and Pepper had just walked into the library – and they had no idea he was there. He could see them in the glass of the doors that fronted the fireplace, but they could not see him over the high back of the couch where he was currently attempting to read _The Catcher in the Rye._

He couldn't lie here and eavesdrop on them, though. That wasn't right. He was about to sit up and let them know he was there when Pepper said, "Because I'm late," and Tony made a sound like he was strangling on his own tongue.

Alarmed, Steve stayed right where he was. He leaned forward a little so he could get a better look at the images reflected in the glass. Pepper was wearing a smart business suit and heels, but her hair looked a bit mussed and she definitely appeared exasperated. Tony, on the other hand, was in a dirty T-shirt and jeans, and right now he looked wide-eyed and stunned with shock.

"You're…what?"

"I'm late," Pepper said again, more crisply this time.

"How…?"

"Eight days, to be exact."

"I don't… Pepper…"

"What, Tony, what?" She paused in the act of rifling through some manila folders stacked on the desk.

"I don't know what to say."

"Well, you don't have to say anything."

"I want to!" Tony stepped forward, striving mightily to overcome his shock. "I mean…" He smiled a little, tentative and shy. "Pepper…"

Pepper glared at him. "Okay, so it's not exactly something I planned on. You don't have to grin about it."

Instantly Tony's smile died. He looked stricken. "I wasn't grinning."

"You were close to grinning," Pepper scolded. She found what she was looking for and straightened up.

"Okay, can we just talk about this?" Tony said. "Because I think we need to talk about this."

Pepper flinched a little. "It won't happen again," she said firmly. "I won't let it. Believe me, I didn't want this."

Now it was Tony's turn to look hurt. "Is it that bad? Are you that upset?"

"Tony! I'm eight days late!" Pepper exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I be upset?"

"Okay, okay." He held up his hands, placating her. "Okay, so…let's talk about this."

Pepper tilted her chin a little and gave Tony the look Steve already had come to label as _I'm listening but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like what I hear so maybe it would be best if you just didn't speak at all right now._

Either Tony did not know how to interpret this expression, or he chose to ignore it. He just plunged right in, full speed ahead. "Okay, so let's talk, because wow, okay, I never expected this, but hey, it's happened and, and it's great, isn't it? Isn't it? This is…it's scary and it's incredible and I know I don't exactly have a whole lot of experience in this area and my own role model was pretty shitty but I promise I'll do whatever it takes—"

Pepper shook her head, her nose crinkling up in disbelief. "Not a whole lot of experience in this area?"

"Hey!" Tony said, outraged. "That model's claim was disproven! And she was the only one! I've always been careful, you know that."

The frown lines between Pepper's brows became more pronounced. "What," she said slowly, "are you talking about?"

"Us!" Tony exclaimed. "I'm talking about us. All of us, now." He stepped closer to Pepper, causing her to lean back in turn, so that she was almost looming over the desk. "What I'm trying to say is, I want to do the right thing here. I want to say the right thing, and I know I'm already screwing it up because that's what I do, I screw up, but I promise you, Pepper, I'll do better, I really will. I want to get this right."

Tony was inches away now, and Pepper was practically bending over the desk. In one quick move, she wriggled away from him and stepped back. "Okay," she said. "Now you're starting to worry me. Would you please start making sense? When was the last time you slept?"

"Thurs—" Tony started to say, then cut himself off. "What does that have to do with anything? We're talking about us here."

"No, we're not," Pepper said. "I'm talking about being eight days late. I have no idea what you're babbling about."

"But see, this is what I'm trying to tell you!" Tony said. He pushed in close again, and again Pepper backed away. This time Tony realized what she was doing, and he stopped. Now he made no effort to disguise his hurt feelings. "Are you really that upset, Pepper?"

She sighed. "I just… This is the first time this has ever happened to me. I don't like it."

Tony swallowed hard. "You don't like it, or you don't like that it's mine?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Pepper said, but she looked confused again.

"How can you say that?" Tony demanded. "It has everything to do with me!"

"Oh, right," Pepper said. "Because everything does."

"Well, I think in this case it does!"

"You know what I think? I think I'm going to bed," Pepper said. "I haven't slept in two days and I can't get anything done. I'm so tired I can't even read anything right now because my eyes won't focus."

"What are you researching?" Tony asked eagerly, jumping on this chance to help. "I'll get JARVIS to download it all for you, save you some time."

"No," Pepper said firmly. "I'm doing this by myself. At this point being nine days late isn't going to matter much."

"By yourself?" Tony repeated quietly.

"Don't you think I should?" Pepper returned with some defiance.

Tony just stared at her for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath. "No. No, I don't." With a distinct lack of his usual flair for the dramatic, he went down on one knee. "Pepper. Would you—"

Pepper let out a squawk of alarm. "No!" she yelped. "Get up, get up, oh my God, get up!"

Tony rose to his feet. "Too much? Too traditional?"

"Oh my God!" Pepper cried again. She looked horrorstruck – and yet there was something coming to light in her eyes, something that looked almost like…laughter. 

"Tony, oh my God." One hand rose to cover her mouth, and now Steve was certain she was trying not to laugh.

"What?" Tony looked utterly baffled. "I feel like I missed something pretty important back there. What just happened? Are you turning me down, or just trying to postpone the inevitable?"

Pepper dropped her hand. She was keeping a straight face for now, but the laughter was still there in her eyes, waiting to come out. "Tony, when I said I was eight days late, what did you think I meant?"

"I—You—" Tony went very still. He turned his head slightly, so he could eyeball her. "You're not…?"

Pepper bit her lip, then gave up trying to pretend she wasn't amused. She broke out into a wide smile. "No," she said gently. "I'm not pregnant."

"Oh, thank God!" Tony breathed, and his shoulders slumped.

Pepper blinked at that, hurt chasing itself across her face, before she recovered her composure.

"Then what did you mean?" Tony demanded. "What are you late for?"

"My presentation!" Pepper said. "And I'm never late for this kind of thing!"

Tony just looked at her, utterly bewildered.

Pepper huffed in exasperation. "My presentation on arc reactor technology? The one I have to make to the board of directors? The one I've been working on for two weeks? The one I asked you repeatedly for help with, before I gave up and started working on it myself? That presentation?"

Tony winced a little, his eyes screwing up. "Er…doesn't ring a bell?" he offered hesitantly. Then he reached out and touched Pepper's arm. "But hey, this is good, right? I mean, we're okay, right?"

Pepper gave him a look of fond indulgence, mixed with genuine love. "Yes, Mr. Stark. We are okay."

"I mean it," Tony said, unaccustomedly serious. "I want us to be okay. And I meant that other stuff, too. What I said. Before. If you were… If we…" He cleared his throat. "I would want to do the right thing." He tipped his head from one side to the other in a quick gesture, negating his own words, and continued in a dry, self-deprecating tone, "Of course, we all know that me and the right thing aren't even on speaking terms, but the point is…I would try. For you. For our… For us."

Pepper had stood there listening to this without moving a muscle. Now she stepped in, finally closing the last bit of distance between them. She reached up and placed her hands on either side of Tony's face. "I know," she said softly. She leaned in and kissed him.

Steve looked away hastily. Listening was one thing. Watching was another.

After a few minutes of kissing, Tony and Pepper stepped apart from each other. "I should…" Pepper said.

"Yeah," Tony said. "I should let you."

They did not speak for a moment.

Then, "Okay, I'm going. Upstairs. To sleep."

"Right. And I'll go. Back to work. Not…upstairs."

Steve looked in the glass again in time to see Tony walk away, out of his sight. He heard the door open, then Pepper said. "Tony?"

"Yes?"

"Just so you know, I wouldn't be upset. I would be happy."

Tony didn't reply with words. But from the look on Pepper's face, his non-verbal answer must have pleased her, for she smiled at him.

The door shut again. Pepper began gathering things from the desk. She walked out too, and the door closed behind her.

Steve counted to one hundred, then slowly sat up. He passed a hand over his face and saw without surprise that his fingers were trembling.

After a long, long moment, he left the library.

******

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> I seem to be incapable of writing humor without throwing in some angst. Poor Steve. I had no idea this was going to end this way.


End file.
